Measuring Intelligence — IQ, Culture, Emotional Intelligence, Aptitude and Creativity
The Two Ends of the Distribution
The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) views intellectual disability as "significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested during the developmental period". Three features follow. First, sub-average intellectual functioning — an IQ below about 70. Second, deficits in adaptive behaviour, the capacity to be independent and deal effectively with one's environment. Third, the deficits must appear during the developmental period, between 0 and 18 years. People with intellectual disability show considerable variation in capabilities, and the book describes four levels.
| Level | Approximate IQ range | Typical needs and capacities |
|---|---|---|
| Mild | 55 to about 70 | Usually not distinguishable from others at first; can learn practical skills and hold jobs |
| Moderate | 35–40 to about 50–55 | Lag behind peers in language and motor skills; can be trained in self-care and simple social skills |
| Severe | 20–25 to about 35–40 | Need considerable support; motor skills and communication are limited |
| Profound | Below 20–25 | Need constant supervision and care throughout life |
At the other end, giftedness is exceptional general ability shown in superior performance in a wide variety of areas; talent is a narrower term for remarkable ability in a specific field, such as music or sport. Lewis Terman, in the 1920s, followed the lives of a large group of children with very high IQs to see how intelligence related to occupational success and adjustment. The book lists the characteristics of gifted children: advanced logical thinking, questioning and problem-solving; high speed in processing information; superior generalisation and discrimination ability; advanced originality and creativity; high intrinsic motivation and self-esteem; independent and non-conformist thinking; and a preference for solitary academic activities. High IQ alone does not identify them — teachers' judgements, school achievement, parents' interviews, peer and self-ratings are used as well.
Kinds of Intelligence Tests
- Individual and group tests: an individual test is given to one person at a time, and the tester can note the person's feelings, moods and expressions; a group test is given to many at once and usually calls for written answers in a multiple-choice format.
- Verbal, non-verbal and performance tests: a verbal test needs a written or oral response in language and so needs literacy; a non-verbal test uses symbols or figures, as Raven's Progressive Matrices does; a performance test needs the person to move or manipulate objects, such as wooden blocks, to complete a task, with little use of language.
- Culture-fair and culture-biased tests: many tests favour the culture in which they were built, usually urban and middle-class; a culture-fair test tries not to discriminate against people from different cultures, and non-verbal and performance items help achieve this.
Culture and Intelligence; the Indian Tradition
A culture is a collective system of customs, beliefs, attitudes and achievements in art and literature, and it shapes what counts as intelligent. Sternberg's contextual intelligence implies this, and Vygotsky held that while elementary mental functions such as crying or attending to a mother's voice may be universal, higher mental functions such as problem solving are largely culture-produced. Western cultures, with technologically developed societies, value technological intelligence — skills of generalisation and abstraction, speed, minimal moves and mental manipulation. The Indian tradition emphasises integral intelligence: connectivity with the social and world environment, so that intelligence includes how one relates to others and to the situation.
The Sanskrit word buddhi, as J.P. Das explains it, has a wider meaning than the Western notion: it includes mental effort, determined action, feelings and opinions along with knowledge, discrimination, problem-solving and judgement. On this view intelligence rests on four competencies.
| Competence | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Cognitive capacity | Sensitivity to context, understanding, discrimination, problem solving, effective communication |
| Social competence | Respect for social order, commitment to elders, the young and the needy, concern for others, recognising others' perspectives |
| Emotional competence | Self-regulation and self-monitoring of emotions, honesty, politeness, good conduct, self-evaluation |
| Entrepreneurial competence | Commitment, persistence, patience, hard work, vigilance, goal-directed behaviour |
Emotional Intelligence
The notion of emotional intelligence broadens intelligence beyond the intellectual. Salovey and Mayer (1990) first introduced it, as "the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions"; Daniel Goleman later popularised it. Emotional quotient (EQ) expresses a person's emotional intelligence in the way IQ expresses intelligence. The book lists what emotionally intelligent people do: perceive and are sensitive to their own feelings and emotions; perceive and are sensitive to others' emotions by noting body language, voice and tone, and facial expressions; relate emotions to their thoughts so as to take them into account in solving problems and making decisions; understand the powerful influence of the nature and intensity of emotions; and control and regulate their emotions and their expression while dealing with themselves and others.
Aptitude and Creativity
Aptitude refers to a combination of characteristics that indicates an individual's potential to acquire some specific knowledge or skill after training. Success needs both aptitude and interest: a person with mechanical aptitude and an interest in machines is likely to do well as an engineer. Aptitude tests come in two forms — independent (specialised) tests, such as tests of clerical, mechanical, numerical or typing aptitude, and multiple (generalised) aptitude test batteries. The best known battery is the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT), with eight independent subtests: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, abstract reasoning, clerical speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling, and language usage. J.M. Ojha developed an Indian adaptation of the DAT.
Creativity is the ability to produce ideas, objects or problem solutions that are novel, appropriate and useful. It varies in kind — one person is creative in writing, another in painting — and in degree, and it develops through the interplay of heredity and environment. Intelligence tests mostly call for convergent thinking, arriving at the one correct answer; creativity tests are open-ended and assess divergent thinking — producing many different answers. Four abilities are scored: fluency (the number of ideas), flexibility (the variety of ideas), originality (how unusual they are) and elaboration (going into detail). Creativity tests have been developed by Guilford, Torrance, Khatena, Wallach and Kogan, and in India by Paramesh, Baqer Mehdi and Passi. Intelligence and creativity are related but distinct: Terman found that people with high IQ were not necessarily creative, and a person can be creative without a very high IQ, though a certain level of intelligence is needed.
Key takeaways
- Binet and Simon built the first test in 1905 using mental age; Stern (1912) defined IQ = (MA ÷ CA) × 100.
- IQ is normally distributed with a mean of 100; about half the population falls in the 90–109 average band, and 2.2% at each extreme.
- Intellectual disability (AAIDD): sub-average functioning, deficits in adaptive behaviour, onset before 18; four levels from mild to profound.
- Tests are individual or group; verbal, non-verbal or performance; and culture-biased or culture-fair.
- Western technological intelligence values abstraction and speed; Indian integral intelligence values connectivity; buddhi rests on cognitive, social, emotional and entrepreneurial competence.
- Emotional intelligence was introduced by Salovey and Mayer and popularised by Goleman; EQ expresses it.
- The DAT has eight subtests (Indian adaptation by J.M. Ojha); creativity tests score divergent thinking — fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration.
Practice questions (8)
Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.
A 10-year-old girl performs on an intelligence test like an average 12-year-old. Using Stern's formula, her IQ is:
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Answer: C — 120
IQ = (mental age ÷ chronological age) × 100 = (12 ÷ 10) × 100 = 120. The figure 83 comes from inverting the ratio (10 ÷ 12), the commonest slip; 100 would mean her mental age equalled her age.The concept of the intelligence quotient, mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100, was devised in 1912 by:
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Answer: D — William Stern
The German psychologist William Stern devised IQ in 1912. Binet and Simon are the trap: they built the first test in 1905 and introduced mental age, but they did not turn it into a quotient. Terman is associated with the study of gifted children.Which of the following is NOT one of the features of intellectual disability in the view of the AAIDD?
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Answer: A — Onset in adulthood, after normal development
The definition requires sub-average intellectual functioning, deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifestation during the developmental period, between 0 and 18 years. An onset in adulthood after normal development contradicts the third feature, so it is the one that does not belong.Match the competence of buddhi, as J.P. Das describes it, with what it includes. A. Cognitive capacity B. Social competence C. Emotional competence D. Entrepreneurial competence — 1. Self-regulation of emotions, honesty, politeness 2. Persistence, patience, hard work, goal-directed behaviour 3. Respect for social order and commitment to elders and the needy 4. Sensitivity to context, discrimination, problem solving
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Answer: B — A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
Cognitive capacity is sensitivity to context, discrimination and problem solving; social competence is respect for social order and commitment to others; emotional competence is self-regulation of emotions, honesty and politeness; entrepreneurial competence is persistence and goal-directed hard work. Swapping social and emotional competence is the usual error, since both concern how one treats others.The concept of emotional intelligence — the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, discriminate among them and use this to guide thinking and action — was first introduced by:
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Answer: C — Salovey and Mayer
Salovey and Mayer introduced emotional intelligence in 1990 and gave the definition in the stem. Goleman is the trap: he popularised the idea later, which is why his name is the one most people associate with it. Gardner's interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences are related ideas, but not this concept.Assertion (A): A test in which a person arranges wooden blocks to copy a design can be used with people who cannot read or write. Reason (R): Performance tests require the manipulation of objects and make little use of language.
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Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
A block-design task is a performance test, and because such tests depend on handling objects rather than on reading or writing, they can be given to non-literate people and help make testing fairer across cultures. R therefore explains A directly; calling them unrelated misses that the low use of language is exactly what makes the test usable.A test asks students to list as many unusual uses of a brick as they can in five minutes, and scores them on the number, variety and unusualness of their answers. The test is assessing:
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Answer: B — Divergent thinking
An open-ended task with no single right answer, scored for fluency, flexibility and originality, is a test of divergent thinking — the mark of a creativity test. Convergent thinking is the opposite: arriving at the one correct answer, which is what most intelligence-test items require. Clerical speed and accuracy is a DAT subtest of aptitude.Consider the statements. I. Technological intelligence stresses generalisation, abstraction, speed and minimal moves. II. Integral intelligence stresses connectivity with the social and world environment. III. A person high in conventional intelligence must also be highly creative. IV. A culture-fair test tries not to discriminate against people from different cultures. Which are correct?
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Answer: D — I, II and IV only
Statements I and II give the contrast between Western technological and Indian integral intelligence, and IV states the aim of a culture-fair test. III is false: intelligence and creativity are distinct, and Terman found that people with high IQ were not necessarily creative. Leaving out IV discards a true statement.